Have the world by short hairs

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And how would a fiasco similar to the one in Iraq, get us oil. On the contrary it will make the situation worse. As long as oil is the commodity that greases the wheels of progress. OPEC will have the world by the short hairs

What does the last sentence mean?

Thank you

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OPEC will have the whole world in its power, will be in command of everything.

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But how did it come to mean this?

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I may be wrong, but I think it refers to pubic hair.
If someone has a firm grip of your pubic hair, they have your complete attention.
Smile

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huh...That's a bold guess!

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A variation on this phrase is "to have someone by the short and curlies".

I'd say it was more than a guess.

Smile

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I can completely understand that doing such is a painful hold ...

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en... not only painful...

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McTag wrote:

I may be wrong, but I think it refers to pubic hair.
If someone has a firm grip of your pubic hair, they have your complete attention.

That sounds absolutely right to me. The expression's a bit saucy on reflection but it has fallen into the vernacular (of a somewhat permissive society some might say?) now. That the term is pretty graphic, is something everyone will agree.

On second thoughts though, perhaps "permissive age" has nothing to do with it. A great 17th century poet Andrew Marvell wrote in his legendary love poem "To his coy mistress":

"then worms shall try
That long preserv'd virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust."

The word "quaint" meant something quite different from today!!! It referred to the female reproductive organ!

Saucy language has a probably been around since for ever.

To learn more listen to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/adventuresinpoetry/pip/ub64h/

It would be interesting to trace when "to have someone by the short & curlies" first came into use.

A propos, I'm new here and have posted my first question in another thread. I'm uncertain about the expression "to set stock by something" is it "by" or "on" I wonder...

Meantime,
Cheers from a Stephen Colbert fan (now there's a man who has a supreme command of the English language)

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Colbert spells the word "truthiness". I notice that you spell it differently. My guess is that you have a rationale for that. Do tell - curious minds want to kknow.

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Nigel Rees (who often broadcasts on the BBC) has written a book covering questions such as these, called "A Word In Your Shell-Like".

Which is on my shelf, and I have now consulted.

He disagrees with me, says that the phrase probably has nothing to do with pubic hair but more likely referred originally to the short hair on the back of the neck. The phrase was first used in about:

a) to have someone by the short and curlies- 1935

b) to have someone by the short hairs- 1905

I can say, in my own opinion, that whenever "short and curlies" is used then 95% of people hereabouts would assume the pubic hair interpretation.

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McTag--

I agree. "By the short hair" could conceivably be "by the scruff of the neck", but "by the short and curlies" strongly suggests pubic hair.

All "folk" etomologies are suspect--particularly mine--but I'm guessing that the Edwardian "by the short hair" evolved to the pre-war naughtiness of "by the short and curlies".

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Aa wrote:

Colbert spells the word "truthiness". I notice that you spell it differently. My guess is that you have a rationale for that. Do tell - curious minds want to kknow.

Everyone else everywhere in the world in every forum you can think of got there before me so when I tried logging in with the name I was constantly bumped off with the "login taken" message. In the end I settled for "y".

But while we are toying with pedantries, check out the Colboards and see whether it is "y" or "i". It appears that the jury is still out on the subject.

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McTag wrote:

Nigel Rees (who often broadcasts on the BBC) has written a book covering questions such as these, called "A Word In Your Shell-Like".

Which is on my shelf, and I have now consulted.

He disagrees with me, says that the phrase probably has nothing to do with pubic hair but more likely referred originally to the short hair on the back of the neck. The phrase was first used in about:

a) to have someone by the short and curlies- 1935

b) to have someone by the short hairs- 1905

Enlightening McTag, Rees is good on language, though a bit of bore on radio, on account of his priggishnes and total inability at pulling off jokes.

The idea of a journalist stooping to pubic metaphors in the context of OPEC startles. It might risk sparking a Cartoons stand off all over again and we wouldn't want that! Twisted Evil

Resorting to "by the short hairs" could have been a case of tactful editing, a compromise achieved thanks to a bit of culture, the result of which was that no sensitivities were unduly awakened.

I confess the expression is new to me, it's ambiguous too to so there's mileage in there.

Thanks a lot.

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Ha! Interesting thread.

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J-nB wrote:

But how did it come to mean this?

:wink:

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Quote:

A great 17th century poet Andrew Marvell wrote in his legendary love poem "To his coy mistress":

"then worms shall try
That long preserv'd virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust."

The word "quaint" meant something quite different from today!!! It referred to the female reproductive organ!

I just don't believe that. Yes, the word was pronounced "(and spelt) "queynte" in Chaucer's day, but not in the 17th. I think your broadcaster just made that up.

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Quote:

A great 17th century poet Andrew Marvell wrote in his legendary love poem "To his coy mistress":

"then worms shall try
That long preserv'd virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust."

The word "quaint" meant something quite different from today!!! It referred to the female reproductive organ!

I just don't believe that. Yes, the word for the female reproductive organ was pronounced "(and spelt) "queynte" in Chaucer's day, but not in the 17th. I think your broadcaster just made that up.

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Have the world by short hairs

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